"No currency like trust, no catalyst like hope"

I'm dedicating this post to manasa and the amazing things shes currently doing in Nairobi with Acumen.

So i was reading Manasa's latest blog and she talked about how her company's CEO was visiting and she had written a book basically about what inspired her to do the work she does. Well,as it happened, the book was given to the man that cleaned the Acumen office in Nairobi. He in turn passed it around to members of his community, and as often happens, the smallest gesture can turn into something bigger, something great. This man organized a book club during which they got together and just discussed ideas etc...It's funny because even in the poorest of communities where education is scarce there is this almost innate desire to learn, to grow, to know more. You know, this morning I woke up and realllly didn't want to go to class, and then i read manasa's blog about these people that came together to learn from one another and I thought, how selfish I am. I have available to me all the education and knowledge in the world and I treat it as something I have a right to. Education should be a right, it should be available to everyone, but instead for those people in the slums of Nairobi, it's a privilege they rarely encounter.

The title of my post today is actually a quote from the cleaner that started the book club. In his own words he made a beautiful speech. Manasa has portions of the speech in her blog (http://manasamusa.blogspot.com/) and it really is worth reading. I just remember thinking, I want to meet this person, he seems like a special soul, someone so hopeful and optimistic, who despite growing up in a world of crime and poverty sees the good in the world, and more than that, the potential for greatness.

He says,
"I may not share the same experience with Jacqueline, but her story inspires me a lot. I didn't make it to advanced education. I was told to join one of the various arms of the government - Kenyan Army, Police, Navy, Security, among others, but I haven't gone through. It's not that I don't qualify, but that I don't have the money to bribe. People bribe to get a well paying job. What about the poor who have no money to bribe but have a huge potential to transform the world?

Tribalism and nepotism are yet other barrier's to one's goal in life. [........] Let us join hands and solidly agree that poverty is not permanent; it's something we have created and in the same way we can rid it away if we mean it. As I sit down I take this occasion to remind you that it's a New Year. Let us be new."

I couldnt get his words out of my head. And this goes back to what i wrote in my post day 1, there are SO many people out there with such incredible talents and potential and the only reason we may not know about them is because they were born in the slums of nairobi or the poor villages of india. We have to invest in each other, realize that one of those little kids running around in the street could cure cancer if given the right opportunities. "Let us join hands and solidly agree that poverty is not permanent"...that hope i can't even put into words how amazing that is to me. I admire this man so much, he's the type of people we need in this world...I feel like, for all the wealth and knowledge we have in the western world, we also have this jaded cynicism, that nothing can be done without writing a check and unless you have a couple degrees behind your name you don't know what you're talking about. What Alex has is this sort of purity and its genius in its simplicity, just help each other out. Have faith in each other.

You know, Alex commented in his speech that he was inspired by the book he read by Acumen's CEO, I want him to know that I am inspired by him.